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What Russians can teach Catholics about democracy

The Russian Orthodox Church today elected a new patriarch, the first since the fall of the Soviet Union. Metropolitan Kirill, formerly head of external affairs (foreign minister) for the late Patriarch Alexy II, will become Patriarch this Sunday in Moscow. He is thought to be more open to Rome, and more likely to assert independence from the Kremlin, than his opponent.

Of interest to Catholics: Kirill was elected by a body one third of which was made up of laypeople, unlike the bishop of Rome, who is elected now only by clerics. Would you care to guess which practice is more "traditional," dating to the earliest practices of Christianity.